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Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court ruling to halt
the closure of 17 schools in the new year is a groundbreaking judgement,
provincial ANC chairperson Marius Fransman said on Friday.

"This judgment has an effect here, it has an effect
everywhere else in South Africa, where everyone will now consider deeply when
they want to close any school," Fransman said.

This was after Judge Siraj Desai granted the schools,
their governing bodies and the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) an urgent
interdict.

He said he looked forward to a final review application
to be heard in the same court sometime in the new year.

"We fought a fight for every school and we believe
with the review process we will save all of these schools," said Fransman.

He praised Lavis Drive Primary School principal Brenda
Davids, who first brought the matter to the attention of teacher unions.

"I saw the tears of this woman... the day she
decided she can't see children suffering, that day she became a victim of the
DA provincial government."

Davids said since hearing the school would be closed,
they twice received a letter informing them that the electricity would be cut.

Fransman believed this was a form of victimisation, and
warned schools this type of action could continue following the court victory.

Reacting to the ruling, Davids said: "We just got a
letter on 28 May saying the school will close... that was a very sad day for
us, but today, the 21 December, is a happy day."

Sadtu Western Cape secretary Jonavon Rustin welcomed the
ruling and said it sent out a strong message to Premier Helen Zille and
education MEC Donald Grant.

"We came here to tell Helen Zille that you will not
mess with the communities," he said.

In terms of the ruling, the Western Cape Education
Department (WCED) would have to continue to provide subsidies and full support
to the affected schools.

"The respondents [Grant and the WCED] are directed
to take all reasonable steps, including but not limited to the employment of
temporary teachers and the renewal or reinstatement of leases, to ensure that
all necessary services are provided to the said seventeen schools," Desai
ruled.

The judge said while colleague Elizabeth Baartman was in
agreement with the ruling, Judge Dennis Davis "differed with the order on
principle".

Eighteen schools originally contested the closure, but
one of the institutions, Tonko Bosman in Somerset West, agreed to closure.

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